Index: b/setuptools/command/easy_install.py
===================================================================
--- a/setuptools/command/easy_install.py
+++ b/setuptools/command/easy_install.py
@@ -149,13 +149,15 @@ class easy_install(Command):
         ('local-snapshots-ok', 'l',
          "allow building eggs from local checkouts"),
         ('version', None, "print version information and exit"),
+        ('install-layout=', None, "installation layout to choose (known values: deb)"),
+        ('force-installation-into-system-dir', '0', "force installation into /usr"),
         ('no-find-links', None,
          "Don't load find-links defined in packages being installed")
     ]
     boolean_options = [
         'zip-ok', 'multi-version', 'exclude-scripts', 'upgrade', 'always-copy',
         'editable',
-        'no-deps', 'local-snapshots-ok', 'version'
+        'no-deps', 'local-snapshots-ok', 'version', 'force-installation-into-system-dir'
     ]
 
     if site.ENABLE_USER_SITE:
@@ -203,6 +205,10 @@ class easy_install(Command):
         self.site_dirs = None
         self.installed_projects = {}
         self.sitepy_installed = False
+        # enable custom installation, known values: deb
+        self.install_layout = None
+        self.force_installation_into_system_dir = None
+
         # Always read easy_install options, even if we are subclassed, or have
         # an independent instance created.  This ensures that defaults will
         # always come from the standard configuration file(s)' "easy_install"
@@ -271,6 +277,11 @@ class easy_install(Command):
         self.expand_basedirs()
         self.expand_dirs()
 
+        if self.install_layout:
+            if not self.install_layout.lower() in ['deb']:
+                raise DistutilsOptionError("unknown value for --install-layout")
+            self.install_layout = self.install_layout.lower()
+
         self._expand(
             'install_dir', 'script_dir', 'build_directory',
             'site_dirs',
@@ -297,6 +308,15 @@ class easy_install(Command):
         if self.user and self.install_purelib:
             self.install_dir = self.install_purelib
             self.script_dir = self.install_scripts
+
+        if self.prefix == '/usr' and not self.force_installation_into_system_dir:
+            raise DistutilsOptionError("""installation into /usr
+
+Trying to install into the system managed parts of the file system. Please
+consider to install to another location, or use the option
+--force-installation-into-system-dir to overwrite this warning.
+""")
+
         # default --record from the install command
         self.set_undefined_options('install', ('record', 'record'))
         # Should this be moved to the if statement below? It's not used
@@ -1344,11 +1364,28 @@ class easy_install(Command):
                 self.debug_print("os.makedirs('%s', 0o700)" % path)
                 os.makedirs(path, 0o700)
 
+    if sys.version[:3] in ('2.3', '2.4', '2.5') or 'real_prefix' in sys.__dict__:
+        sitedir_name = 'site-packages'
+    else:
+        sitedir_name = 'dist-packages'
+
     INSTALL_SCHEMES = dict(
         posix=dict(
             install_dir='$base/lib/python$py_version_short/site-packages',
             script_dir='$base/bin',
         ),
+        unix_local = dict(
+            install_dir = '$base/local/lib/python$py_version_short/%s' % sitedir_name,
+            script_dir  = '$base/local/bin',
+        ),
+        posix_local = dict(
+            install_dir = '$base/local/lib/python$py_version_short/%s' % sitedir_name,
+            script_dir  = '$base/local/bin',
+        ),
+        deb_system = dict(
+            install_dir = '$base/lib/python3/%s' % sitedir_name,
+            script_dir  = '$base/bin',
+        ),
     )
 
     DEFAULT_SCHEME = dict(
@@ -1359,11 +1396,18 @@ class easy_install(Command):
     def _expand(self, *attrs):
         config_vars = self.get_finalized_command('install').config_vars
 
-        if self.prefix:
+        if self.prefix or self.install_layout:
+            if self.install_layout and self.install_layout in ['deb']:
+                    scheme_name = "deb_system"
+                    self.prefix = '/usr'
+            elif self.prefix or 'real_prefix' in sys.__dict__:
+                scheme_name = os.name
+            else:
+                scheme_name = "posix_local"
             # Set default install_dir/scripts from --prefix
             config_vars = config_vars.copy()
             config_vars['base'] = self.prefix
-            scheme = self.INSTALL_SCHEMES.get(os.name, self.DEFAULT_SCHEME)
+            scheme = self.INSTALL_SCHEMES.get(scheme_name,self.DEFAULT_SCHEME)
             for attr, val in scheme.items():
                 if getattr(self, attr, None) is None:
                     setattr(self, attr, val)
@@ -1405,9 +1449,15 @@ def get_site_dirs():
                 sitedirs.extend([
                     os.path.join(
                         prefix,
+                        "local/lib",
+                        "python" + sys.version[:3],
+                        "dist-packages",
+                    ),
+                    os.path.join(
+                        prefix,
                         "lib",
                         "python" + sys.version[:3],
-                        "site-packages",
+                        "dist-packages",
                     ),
                     os.path.join(prefix, "lib", "site-python"),
                 ])
Index: b/setuptools/command/install_egg_info.py
===================================================================
--- a/setuptools/command/install_egg_info.py
+++ b/setuptools/command/install_egg_info.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 from distutils import log, dir_util
-import os
+import os, sys
 
 from setuptools import Command
 from setuptools import namespaces
@@ -18,14 +18,31 @@ class install_egg_info(namespaces.Instal
 
     def initialize_options(self):
         self.install_dir = None
+        self.install_layout = None
+        self.prefix_option = None
 
     def finalize_options(self):
         self.set_undefined_options('install_lib',
                                    ('install_dir', 'install_dir'))
+        self.set_undefined_options('install',('install_layout','install_layout'))
+        if sys.hexversion > 0x2060000:
+            self.set_undefined_options('install',('prefix_option','prefix_option'))
         ei_cmd = self.get_finalized_command("egg_info")
         basename = pkg_resources.Distribution(
             None, None, ei_cmd.egg_name, ei_cmd.egg_version
         ).egg_name() + '.egg-info'
+
+        if self.install_layout:
+            if not self.install_layout.lower() in ['deb']:
+                raise DistutilsOptionError("unknown value for --install-layout")
+            self.install_layout = self.install_layout.lower()
+            basename = basename.replace('-py%s' % pkg_resources.PY_MAJOR, '')
+        elif self.prefix_option or 'real_prefix' in sys.__dict__:
+            # don't modify for virtualenv
+            pass
+        else:
+            basename = basename.replace('-py%s' % pkg_resources.PY_MAJOR, '')
+
         self.source = ei_cmd.egg_info
         self.target = os.path.join(self.install_dir, basename)
         self.outputs = []
